Venue and event recommendations for a user of a portable media player device

ABSTRACT

A method and system for generating by a server, a recommendation for a venue or an event of interest proximally located to an inferred current location of a user of a portable media player devise. In an embodiment, a server may determine one or more media preferences for a user based at least in part on media stored on or accessed using the portable media player devise of the user. The server may generate information related to the current location or a recommendation for a venue or an event of interest to the user based at least in part on the one or more media preferences and the inferred current location of the user. Once generated, the server then may communicate the recommendation (or the information) to the user, e.g. the portable media player devise. Other embodiments may also be described and claimed.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of priority from and isrelated to commonly-owned U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/945,677filed Jun. 22, 2007. The disclosure of the foregoing application ishereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, including anyappendices or attachments thereof, for all purposes.

FIELD OF PRESENT INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of portable media playerdevices. More specifically, the present invention relates to venue orevent recommendations for a user of a portable media player device.

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

Portable media player devices are increasing in popularity. A portablemedia player device is a transportable device that plays one or moremedia file types, including text, audio, video, graphics, interactive,and other media file types. For purposes of this disclosure, a portablemedia player device does not include a general purpose laptop or tabletcomputer, nor any computing device attached or installed on a mobilevehicle (such as a dash mounted radio or DVD player in an automobile)but rather includes only a handheld device (also referred to aspalm-sized device) for the purpose of displaying and/or playing mediafiles. The hardware and/or software components embodied in the devicefor the displaying and playing of media files are collectively referredto as a media player. Examples of portable media player devices includethe ipod available from Apple Computer of Cupertino, Calif.; the Zuneavailable from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.; the ibiza™Rhapsody® from Varia Mobil of Seattle, Wash., and other like devices.

Media may be stored on a portable media player device (e.g., bydownloading media such as music to the portable media player device),accessed via a portable media player device from a network site (e.g.,by streaming from a network site), or acquired by a user via a portablemedia player device in one or more ways (e.g., by the purchase andinstallation of a flash memory card containing media). With the advanceof storage technology, the amount of media that can be stored in aportable media player device has grown exponentially. Couple that withthe advance of telecommunications and networking technology, the numberof sites offering media and other media-rich environments to provide newand/or replacement media content for portable media player devices havealso grown exponentially. As a result, portable media player devices areincreasingly “connected”, and users almost never travel (leave home)without their personal portable media player devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not by way oflimitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which likereferences indicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a representative environment in which an embodimentof the invention is implemented;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates an internal component view of a portable media playerdevice in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary server apparatus, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of theinvention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form apart hereof, and which show, by way of illustration, specific exemplaryembodiments by which the invention may be practiced. Each embodiment isdescribed in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art topractice the invention, and it is to be understood that otherembodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made, withoutdeparting from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Thefollowing detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in alimiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is defined onlyby the appended claims.

Various operations will be described as multiple discrete operations. Inturn, in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the presentinvention, however, the order of description should not be construed asto imply that these operations are necessarily order dependent. Inparticular, these operations need not be performed in the order ofpresentation.

Furthermore, reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment”or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, theappearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” invarious places throughout this specification are not necessarily allreferring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features,structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner inone or more embodiments.

A method and system for providing venue and/or event recommendations fora user of a portable media player device, thereby further increasing theuser experience of the user of the portable media player device, isdescribed. In various embodiments, the venue and/or eventrecommendations are for venues and/or events of potential interest tothe user at locations proximally located to an inferred current locationof the user, based at least in part on an inferred entertainmentinterest of the user. In various embodiments, the current location ofthe user is inferred based at least in part on current and/or recentgeographic locations of the portable media player device, and theentertainment interest is inferred based at least in part on the mediafiles or content stored in and/or accessed using the portable mediaplayer device. In various embodiments, the recommendations are providedto the users' portable media player devices.

Thus, in various embodiments, a user of a portable media player devicehaving media of a particular genre stored on or accessed using theportable media player device may receive a recommendation for a venue orevent that is related to that particular genre and is proximally locatedto the inferred current location of the user of the portable mediaplayer device. For example, a server may generate a recommendation for anearby concert by an alternative rock band for a user of a portablemedia player device that has inferred interest in alterative rock,inferred based at least in part on media of an alternative rock or likegenre stored on and/or accessed via his portable media player device. Arecommendation may also be generated based in part upon interestinferred based at least in part image media stored in and/or accessedvia the portable media player device. For example, images of a modern orrelated art painting stored in and/or accessed via the portable mediaplayer device may infer a particular interest in art and influence theserver to generate a recommendation for a Pablo Picasso modern artexhibit presently at a modern art museum or gallery proximally locatedto the inferred current location of the user of the portable mediaplayer device.

Recommended venues or events may include a wide variety of proximallylocated venues or events of interest to a user. In various embodiments,a proximally located venue may include a place of worship or a place ofhistoric or cultural significance proximally located to the portablemedia player device. A proximally held event may include a cultural,community or political event that might occur at one of theaforementioned venues or at another location. In these embodiments, therecommendation for the proximally located event or venue may be basedupon a subject preference of the user determined by podcast media storedin and/or accessed via the portable media player device. For example, auser traveling in France with his portable media player device may haveBaroque art podcasts stored on or accessed using his or her portablemedia player device. In an embodiment, when the user as e.g. inferred bythe locations of the portable media player device are within a proximallocation of a Baroque era church, the server may generate arecommendation for visiting the church. In various embodiments, theserver may also provide the user with directions and details related tovisiting the church. In other embodiments, the server may generaterecommendations for proximally located events such as a political rallyor speech that are consistent with political podcasts stored on oraccessed using the portable media player device.

Note that in other embodiments, the server may generate not onlyrecommendations for events or venues but also information and/or mediarecommendations proximally associated with a current location of a userof the portable media player device. For example, if media stored on oraccessed using the portable media player device suggests that the useris a fan of Jazz music, the server may generate and provide informationabout Jazz artists who began their careers in the current city the useris in. Alternatively or additionally the server may also generate andprovide a recommendation for one or more podcasts, books (audio orprint), and/or websites about the jazz artists for the user of theportable media player device. As another example, when the user travelsto a new state with the portable media player device, the server maygenerate and directly push information about the state such as the statehistory, the state government, the state flower and/or state song to theportable media player device.

Referring now to FIG. 1 which illustrates a representative environment100 in which an embodiment of the invention may be implemented. In theembodiment shown, a portable media player device 10 having storedtherein a number of media files (“media”) is associated with a user.Additionally, computer 50 may be associated with portable media playerdevice 10 and may or may not be located in proximity of portable mediaplayer device 10. In the illustrated embodiment, a server 20 may infer acurrent location of the user by determining a current location of theportable media player device 10 as well as receive and transmitinformation to and from portable media player device 10 (or othercommunication medium) via a wireless access point 30 and network 40.Other communication medium may include SMS or MMS messaging, email,facsimile, paging message and/or phone calls. Network 40 may include forexample a Wide Area Network (WAN), Local Area Network (LAN) (e.g.Ethernet), an intranet, internet, a public switched telephone network(PSTN) as well as a wired or wireless communications network (e.g.WiFi), or combination thereof. In the representative environment 100,the server 20 may receive a current location or successively receive aseries of current locations of a portable media player device 10 as wellas media or information about media stored on or accessed using portablemedia player device 10, and in response, server 20 may transmit one ormore recommendations for a venue or event, or information of interest tothe user, e.g. to portable media player device 10, to be described morefully below.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart 200 that illustrates a method of generating by aserver a recommendation for a venue or event of interest proximallylocated to (or information about) a current location of a user of theportable media player device in accordance with various embodiments ofthe invention. In the embodiments shown, a recommendation (orinformation) is generated and provided based at least in part on aninferred current location of the user, and inferred entertainmentinterest of the user. In various embodiments, the current location ofthe user is inferred based at least in part on the user's portable mediaplayer device's actual geographic location (otherwise referred to as thecurrent location of a portable media player device) and the user'sentertainment interest is inferred based at least in part on mediaand/or information about the media stored in and/or accessed using theportable media player device. The recommendation for the venue or event(or information) of interest may then be communicated to user, e.g. tothe portable media player device, or alternatively to anothercommunication medium, such as SMS/MMS message, email, facsimile, pagingand/or voice call.

The method begins at a block 204 where, in an embodiment, a server suchas server 20 of FIG. 1 infers a current location of the user. Theinference may include receiving or determining a current location (orsuccessively receiving a series of locations) of a portable media playerdevice associated with the user. Note that in various embodiments, theserver can determine the current location of the portable media playerdevice by using various methods. The server may estimate the currentlocation of the portable media player device based on a location of awireless access point through which the portable media player deviceestablishes a network connection to the server. Or, the server mayestimate the current location of the portable media player device basedupon the results of triangulating signals from various signal towers orbased upon the server's communication with other portable media playerdevices having known current locations. The server might also receivethe current location of the portable media player device from a globalpositioning system (GPS) module located within the portable media playerdevice.

In other embodiments, the current location may be manually entered bythe user into the portable media player device or other communicationdevices (such as a mobile phone) for transmission to the server. Forexample, the user may enter a code of an airport where she recentlylanded or a name of a city in which she is currently visiting (forbusiness or pleasure). The server may also allow the user to enter oneor more preferred geographic locations for which the user would like toreceive a recommendation or information. For example, the user may knowthat she will be traveling with the portable media player device toDenver the following week and may therefore desire to receiverecommendations for events or venues in (or information about) theDenver area.

Returning to the method illustrated in flow chart 200, after the serverinfers a current location of the user in block 204, the server may inferan entertainment interest of the user at the next blocks 206/207. Theinference may include retrieving media or information about media storedon and/or accessed using the user's portable media player device at anext block 206. This media or information about media stored on oraccessed using the portable media player device may be retrieved by theserver by various methods such as for example via network 40 andwireless access point 30 as described in conjunction with FIG. 1.Information about media stored on or accessed using the portable mediaplayer device may also be retrieved from storage within the serveritself. For example, in various embodiments, the server may have suchinformation stored at the server (or in other storage accessible to theserver) as a result of previous syncing of media between the portablemedia player device and the server or as a result of previous browsingof media on the server by the user of the portable media player device.The information may be gathered and retrieved in real time, orcontinuously over a usage period.

At a next block 207, the server may determine one or more mediapreferences or interest for the user based in part upon the media and/orinformation about the media stored on or accessed using the portablemedia player device. In various embodiments, the server can analyze themedia and the information about the media stored on or accessed usingthe portable media player device to identify user preferences forparticular genres of media. Thus, in various embodiments, the server mayanalyze e.g. the meta data associated with a wide variety of mediastored on or accessed using the portable media player device such asmusic, podcasts, books or audiobooks, video, photos or other images forvarious trends that can be translated into user preferences for aparticular genre of music, film, video or art. The meta data may includedata about the media title, media type, artist, subject matter, and soforth. For example, the server may determine that the user has apreference for a jazz music genre if the portable media player devicestores or has been used to access a substantial amount of music byfamous jazz artists such as Ella Fitzgerald or Louis Armstrong. Whatconstitutes a substantial amount may be evolved dynamically overtimebased on feedback on the relevance, success or usefulness of therecommendation and/or information provided to the user or a group ofusers. The server may also determine that the user has a preference forfilm genres related to science fiction if a significant number ofscience fiction movies such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind orStar Wars are stored as video media in or accessed using the portablemedia player device.

After one or more media preferences have been determined at block 207,the process then moves to a block 208. At block 208, the server may makea recommendation for a venue or event (or provide information) based atleast in part on the inferred current location of the user and thedetermined media preference of the user of the portable media playerdevice. In various embodiments, the server may generate the recommendedvenues/events (or information) using collaborative filtering, or otherrecommendation techniques that can take into account the media stored inor accessed using the user's portable media player device, otherinformation about the user's media preferences, and venues or eventsproximally located (or that will occur in a proximate location) to thecurrent location of the user of the portable media player device. Ingenerating a recommendation for a venue or event (or information), theserver may access databases or information from various sources orservice providers, e.g., a ticket sales and distribution company or anlocal online entertainment city guide. For example, the server maycompare a user's preference for a particular genre of music to adatabase that includes citywide events or venues that are hosting ortypically host bands which play music of that particular genre. Theserver may collect the venue and/or event information in real time orthe server may gather the information periodically.

Thus, the server may transmit a recommendation (or information) to auser, e.g. his portable music player device having jazz music stored onor accessed using the portable music player device for a club that playslive jazz or blues within a convenient walking or driving distance tothe current location of the user and the portable media player device.The server may also transmit a recommendation (or information) to auser, e.g. his portable music player device having gospel music storedon or accessed using the portable music player device for a church knownfor gospel music within a convenient walking or driving distance to thecurrent location of the user and the portable media player device. Theserver may also transmit another recommendation for a theatrical orcinematography event such as a nearby science fiction film festival tothe user determined to have user preferences for a science fiction filmgenre.

After the server generates the recommendation (or information), theprocess moves to block 210 where the server may communicate therecommendation to the user by transmitting the recommendation (orinformation) to e.g. the portable media player device. In variousembodiments, as alluded earlier, this may include transmitting therecommendation (or information) by sending either a short messageservice (SMS) message, an email message, a pager message or a facsimilemessage to the user or by placing a call to the user. In variousembodiments, directions to the event, venue or other location ofinterest from the current location of the portable media player devicecan also be sent to the portable media player device (not shown). Theprocess may end at a block 212.

Note that method 200 may be repeated. For example, if the user sodesires, automatic recommendations (or information) may be pushed to theuser on a periodic basis, or when the portable media player devicedetects that the user has changed a current geographic location. Forexample, a user arriving in Miami may find that the user's portablemedia player device has automatically received various recommendedevents or venues occurring in (or information about) Miami when the userarrives at the Miami airport.

Note also that in various embodiments, the server may perform theoperations of method 200 in a different order than as presented in FIG.2. For example, the server may infer user preferences at the time mediais added to the portable media player device. The media and/orinformation about the media as well as inferred media preferences mayremain relatively static until a later time when the server infers aproximal location of the portable media player device. Thus, in someembodiments, the operations of blocks 206 and 207 or variations thereof,may be performed prior to the operation of block 204.

In various embodiments, a user of the portable media player device maybe a subscriber of the service provided by the server. In variousembodiments, the cost of the service may be borne by the recommendedvenue and/or organizers of the events of interest, or combinationthereof.

FIG. 3 illustrates an internal component view of an example handheldportable media player device 300 in an embodiment of the invention. Inthe embodiment shown, a handheld portable media player device 300includes a processor 308 coupled to user interfaces 302, storage medium304 and transmitter/receiver (TX/RX) 306 (“transceiver”). The storagemedium 304 includes instructions implementing a media player 305. Inalternate embodiments, all or portions of the media player may beimplemented in hardware, e.g. hardware components dedicated toencoding/decoding, compression/decompression, encryption/decryption,digital rights management, signal filtering or other processing. Thetransceiver 306 may be a radiofrequency (RF) transceiver that in variousembodiments may support WiFi, WiMax or other wireless local area networkaccess. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver may support EDGE(Enhanced Data GSM Environment) or G3 communication protocols In anembodiment, portable media player device 300 is configured toselectively play media and optionally, to provide a server with acurrent location of the portable media player device 300 via transceiver306. The portable media player device 300 may be configured to receivein response, a recommendation for a venue or event of interestproximally located to (or information about) the current location of aportable media player device 300. The recommendation (or information)may be generated by the server based at least in part on an inferredcurrent location of the user, and inferred entertainment interest ofuser, based e.g. on media stored in storage medium 304, and/or accessedusing the portable media player device 300. In various embodiments, theuser interfaces 302 may include a display, touch pad, touch screen andother input/output (I/O) devices or the like (not shown). In theembodiment, a display or touch screen of user interfaces 302 may beadapted to display the received recommendation.

Finally, FIG. 4 illustrates an internal view of an example computingdevice 400, suitable for use as server 20, in accordance withembodiments of the present invention. In an embodiment, computing device400 includes a storage medium 410 for storing a plurality of programminginstructions and a processor 402 for executing the plurality ofprogramming instructions to enable the computing device 400 to generatea recommendation for a venue or an event of interest to be held at avenue proximally located to (or information about) an inferred currentlocation of a user of a portable media player device. The venue or eventof interest (or information) may be communicated to the user viacommunication interfaces 411. In various embodiments, communicationinterfaces 411 may include network interface cards, modems and so forth.In various embodiments, communication interfaces 411 may be configuredto support a wire lined base local area networking protocol, e.g.Ethernet, or wireless communication protocol such as WiFi, GSM, EDGE,3G.

Element 408 may include various elements such as but not limited togeneral purpose input/output (I/O) devices, mass storage or othersuitable devices to facilitate the generation and transmission of therecommendation or information to the portable media player device. Notethat the processor 402, storage medium 410, communication interfaces 411and other 408 may be coupled to each other via system bus 412, whichrepresents one or more buses. In the case of multiple buses, they arebridged by one or more bus bridges (not shown). In alternateembodiments, other elements may be added, as well as having one or moreof the illustrated elements omitted, without departing from the spiritand scope of the present invention.

Thus, it can be seen from the above description, methods and apparatusesfor generating by a server, a recommendation for a venue or event ofinterest proximally located to (or information about) an inferredcurrent location of a user of a portable media player device aredescribed. As a result, a user of a portable media player device has aneven more enriched experience from using portable media player device.As mentioned earlier, while the present invention has been described interms of the above-illustrated embodiments, the present invention is notlimited to the embodiments described. The present invention can bepracticed with modification and alteration within the spirit and scopeof the appended claims. Thus, the description is to be regarded asillustrative instead of restrictive on the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: retrieving, by a server, aplurality of media stored on or accessed using a portable media playerdevice, or information about said plurality of media; inferring, by theserver, based at least in part on the retrieved plurality of media orthe retrieved information about said plurality of media, one or moreentertainment preferences of a user of the portable media player device;accessing, by the server, one or more sources of information aboutvenues or events proximal to a current location of the user;identifying, by the server, at least one of said venues or events asbeing of interest to the user based at least in part on the one or moreentertainment preferences inferred by the server and the currentlocation of the user; generating, by the server, a recommendationindicating the identified venue or event as a venue or event of interestto the user; and communicating, by the server, the recommendation to theuser.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the venue of interest is a clubor a church located proximal to the current location of the user of theportable media player device, and the recommendation is based at leastin part on a genre of music played in the club or the church and on amusic genre preference of the user inferred by the server based at leastin part on music media stored in, or accessed using, the portable mediaplayer device.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the venue of interestis a either a theatre or a cinema located proximal to the currentlocation of the user of the portable media player device, and therecommendation is based at least in part on a genre of a play or movieplayed in the theatre or cinema, respectively, and on a video genrepreference of the user inferred by the server based at least in part onvideo media stored in, or accessed using, the portable media playerdevice.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the venue of interest is aeither a museum or a gallery located proximal to the current location ofthe user of the portable media player device, and the recommendation isbased at least in part on a genre of painting or photo exhibited at themuseum or gallery and on an image genre preference of the user inferredby the server based at least in part on image media stored in, oraccessed using, the portable media player device.
 5. The method of claim1, wherein the venue of interest is either a place of worship or a placeof historic or cultural significance located proximal to the currentlocation of the user of the portable media player device, and therecommendation is based at least in part on a denomination of religionor a historic or cultural attribute of the place of worship or place ofhistoric or cultural significance, respectively, and on a subjectpreference of the user inferred by the server based at least in part onpodcast media stored in, or accessed using, the portable media playerdevice.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising inferring by theserver the current location of the user of the portable media playerdevice, including receiving by the server a current location of theportable media player device from the portable media player device. 7.The method of claim 1, further comprising inferring by the server thecurrent location of the user of the portable media player device,including receiving by the server a current location of the portablemedia player device from an access point through which the portablemedia player device establishes a network connection to the server. 8.The method of claim 1, wherein said communicating comprises transmittingthe recommendation to the portable media player device.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, wherein said communicating comprises transmitting therecommendation by either sending a short message service (SMS) message,an email message, a pager message or a facsimile message to the user, orby placing a call to the user.
 10. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising retrieving, by the server, the plurality of media or theinformation about said plurality of media from a storage within theserver.
 11. A method comprising: providing to a server, by a portablemedia player device, a current location of the portable media playerdevice to facilitate the server in inferring a current location of auser of the portable media player device; and receiving by the portablemedia player device, from the server, a recommendation indicating anevent or venue of interest located proximal to the inferred currentlocation of the user as being of interest to the user; wherein therecommendation is generated by the server based at least in part on theinferred current location, data accessed by the server from one or moresources of information about venues or events proximal to the currentlocation of the user, and one or more entertainment preferences of theuser, the event or venue of interest being one of said venues or events;and wherein the one or more entertainment preferences are inferred bythe server based at least in part on an analysis, by the server, of aplurality of media stored on or accessed using the portable media playerdevice or information about said plurality of media.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the event or venue of interest is a music event ormusic venue, and the recommendation is based at least in part on a genreof music played at the event or venue and on a music genre preference ofthe user inferred by the server based at least in part on music mediastored in, or accessed using, the portable media player device.
 13. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the event or venue of interest is atheatrical or cinematography event or venue, and the recommendation isbased at least in part on a genre of the theatrical or cinematographyevent or venue and on a video genre preference of the user inferred bythe server based at least in part on video media stored in, or accessedusing, the portable media player device.
 14. The method of claim 11,wherein the event or venue of interest is an exhibit or exhibit venue,and the recommendation is based at least in part on a genre of theexhibit and on an image genre preference of the user inferred by theserver based at least in part on image media stored in, or accessedusing, the portable media player device.
 15. The method of claim 11,wherein the event or venue of interest is a worship, cultural, communityor political event or venue, and the recommendation is based at least inpart on an attribute of the worship, cultural, community or politicalevent and on a subject preference of the user inferred by the serverbased at least in part on podcast media stored in, or accessed using,the portable media player device.
 16. A portable media player devicecomprising: a storage medium configured to store one or more of aplurality of media and information about said plurality of media; and aplayer coupled to the storage medium and endowed with executableinstructions operable, upon execution, to cause the portable mediaplayer device to: selectively play the media; provide a server with acurrent location of the portable media player device to facilitate theserver in inferring a current location of a user of the portable mediaplayer device; and receive from the server, in response to saidproviding the server with the current location, a recommendationindicating a venue or event of interest located proximal to the currentlocation of the user as being of interest to the user; wherein therecommendation is generated by the server based at least in part on theinferred current location of the user, data accessed by the server fromone or more sources of information about venues or events proximal tothe current location of the user, and at least one inferredentertainment preference of the user, the event or venue of interestbeing one of said venues or events; and wherein the at least oneentertainment preference is inferred by the server based at least inpart on an analysis, by the server, of the plurality of media stored onor accessed using the portable media player device or the informationabout said plurality of media.
 17. The portable media player device ofclaim 16, wherein the venue or event of interest is a club or club eventlocated proximal to the inferred current location of the user, and therecommendation is based at least in part on a genre of music played inthe club and on a music genre preference of the user inferred by theserver based at least in part on music media stored in, or accessedusing, the portable media player device.
 18. The portable media playerdevice of claim 16, wherein the venue or event of interest is a theatre,a cinema, a theatre event, or a cinema event located proximal to thecurrent location of the portable media player device, and therecommendation is based at least in part on a genre of play or movieplayed in the theatre or cinema, respectively, and on a video genrepreference of the user inferred by the server based at least in part onvideo media stored in, or accessed using, the portable media playerdevice.
 19. The portable media player device of claim 16, wherein thevenue or event of interest is a museum, a gallery, a museum event, or agallery event located proximal to the current location of the portablemedia player device, and the recommendation is based at least in part ona genre of painting or photo exhibited at the museum or gallery and onan image genre preference of the user inferred by the server based atleast in part on image media stored in, or accessed using, the portablemedia player device.
 20. The portable media player device of claim 16,wherein the venue or event of interest is a place of worship, a place ofhistoric or cultural significance, or an event occurring in a place ofworship or in a place of historic or cultural significance locatedproximal to the current location of the portable media player device,and the recommendation is based at least in part on a denomination ofreligion or a historic or cultural attribute of the event or place ofworship or place of historic or cultural significance, respectively, andon a subject preference of the user inferred by the server based atleast in part on podcast media stored in, or accessed using, theportable media player device.
 21. A server comprising: a storage mediumto store a plurality of programming instructions; and a processorcoupled to the storage medium and comprising executable instructionsoperable, upon execution, to enable the server to: retrieve a pluralityof media stored on or accessed using a portable media player device orinformation about said plurality of media; infer, based at least in parton the retrieved plurality of media or the retrieved information aboutsaid plurality of media, one or more entertainment preferences of a userof the portable media player device; access one or more sources ofinformation about venues or events proximal to a current location of theuser; identify at least one of said venues or events as being ofinterest to the user based at least in part on the one or moreentertainment preferences inferred by the server and the currentlocation of the user; generate a recommendation indicating theidentified venue or event as a venue or event of interest to the user;and communicate the recommendation to the user of the portable mediaplayer device.
 22. The server of claim 21, wherein the venue or event ofinterest is a music event or music venue, and the recommendation isbased at least in part on a genre of music played at the event and on amusic genre preference of the user inferred by the server based at leastin part on music media stored in, or accessed using, the portable mediaplayer device, or the venue or event of interest is a theatrical or acinematography event, and the recommendation is based at least in parton a genre of the theatrical or cinematography event and on a videogenre preference of the user inferred by the server based at least inpart on video media stored in, or accessed using, the portable mediaplayer device.
 23. The server of claim 21, wherein the venue or event ofinterest is an exhibit or exhibit venue, and the recommendation is basedat least in part on a genre of the exhibit and on an image genrepreference of the user inferred by the server based at least in part onimage media stored in, or accessed using, the portable media playerdevice, or the venue or event of interest is a worship, cultural,community or political event or venue, and the recommendation is basedat least in part on an attribute of the worship, cultural, community orpolitical event and on a subject preference of the user inferred by theserver based at least in part on podcast media stored in, or accessedusing, the portable media player device.
 24. The server of claim 21,wherein the programming instructions are further operable, uponexecution, to enable the server to determine the current location of theuser of the portable media player device, including either receiving thecurrent location of the portable media player device from the portablemedia player device, or from an access point through which the portablemedia player device establishes a network connection to the server. 25.The server of claim 21, wherein the programming instructions are furtheroperable, upon execution, to enable the server to retrieve the pluralityof media or the information about said plurality of media from a storageof the server.